Donovan's Brain

Exactly 2 weeks ago as I write this I was sitting outside the Boston Tweeter Center
waiting for the first of three Pearl Jam gigs that I went to while I was on holiday.

I collected my fan club tickets OK, then set about trying to sell the spare one I had. It proved harder to get a good price that I’d thought, mainly because Pearl Jam were doing three nights there, so most of the demand had been met. In the end, I sold the pair I had and did a deal with another member (Dave) so that I could sit with him – his seats were slightly better than mine.

Much to our surprise, Eddie came on stage just before 7:30pm and did a solo number, before introducing The Buzzcocks. I thought that was a rather nice way of rewarding the people who were diligent enough to get there in time to watch the support act. The Buzzcocks tore through their set, hardly pausing between songs. I recognised a couple of them, and quite enjoyed it.

Pearl Jam came on stage at around 9pm, and opened with Oceans, a track off their first album. They don’t often play that song, so we all got pretty excited. Eddie later explained that because they were doing three nights in Boston and they had 105 songs they could play on the tour, they intended to play as many of them as possible, not repeating a single song over the three nights! I knew I was in for a treat at that point. Maybe that was why I got to hear 2 of the 3 songs I’d told Dave were in my wishlist – Smile and In My Tree. I also loved Present Tense, Deep and State Of Love and Trust. Due to a curfew, they finished playing just after 11pm, by which time Dave and I were leaving the centre because we both had to get the train back to Boston. The concert was fantastic, and I resolved that night to get a ticket for the second night in NYC just so I could make the most of the tour.

The next concert I went to, the first of the gigs at Madison Square Garden, was very, very special. The atmosphere inside the 20,000 seater arena was electric, and the set list
was brilliant. Why? Well, for a start, it was a lot different from the Boston gig, so I got to hear even more PJ songs ( Rearviewmirror, Black, Lukin). Secondly, they played
songs that the whole audience could join in with, such as Betterman. And finally, they played a couple of songs that I’ve never heard live before – Breath and Crown of Thorns (a song that pre-dates PJ, recorded when Stone and Jeff were in Mother Love Bone). They played for 3 hours that night, and they themselves consider it a high point in the band’s history.

The next night, after I’d secured a ‘banker’ ticket, I queued for over 3 hours in the cancellation line. I got a pretty good ticket that way, but was then given an even better one by one of the girls I had been queuing with. It was in section 74, 3 rows back from the stage and 7 rows up to the right. It was close enough to be able to see the expression on the band’s faces and to see them picking individual guitar strings. Directly opposite me, on the other side of the arena, was Drew Barrymore. If I’d been in front of my friend in the box office queue I would have been sitting about a metre away from her!

Eddie said that they were going to try to top the previous night, but personally I don’t think they managed it. Eddie wasn’t chatty enough, and the set list wasn’t as good. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great show, but after the previous two shows, it didn’t quite stand up. On its own it would have been fine. The fact that I was sitting so close was great, and added a new element, but I think perhaps I missed out on some of the crowd atmosphere because I couldn’t see most of them. I did make a point of looking around at the whole arena which was an amazing sight. Eddie said that there were 8000 fan club members there that night!

I’ve now seen Pearl Jam five times. I think I’ve caught the touring bug and want to do it again the next time they tour, next year hopefully. They easily proved that they’re the best live band in the
world – I’d be surprised if anyone, fan or otherwise, who saw one of those concerts would say otherwise.